Miraculous Mario Kart
by Starlin's Ghost
Summary: A few weeks after the identity reveal, Marinette invites Adrien over to play video games and have dinner with her family. Shenanigans ensue as Adrien is amused by Marinette's character choice. One-shot.


_MIRACULOUS MARIO KART: A few weeks after the identity reveal, Marinette invites Adrien over to play video games and have dinner with her family. Shenanigans ensue as Adrien is amused by Marinette's character choice._

 **A/N: I do not own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir.**

Marinette navigated easily through the simple game menu, pressing start and selecting the two-player option.

"Grand Prix or versus?" She looked over at the person beside her, and he shrugged.

She chose Grand Prix, because it was obviously the best choice to play with only two people. She set it to 100CC, knowing that her playing partner was no stranger to Mario Kart, but that he hadn't played this specific version before. They agreed to play the Star Cup together, due to her love for the DK Mountain stage and his interest in playing the Sherbet Land stage.

At the character selection screen, Marinette automatically moved her red Player 1 box to chose her normal characters and matching kart. Her partner stared at the screen for a moment, contemplating his own character choice, when he took interest in the characters she had chosen. A slow grin came to his face and then he suddenly burst out laughing.

"What?" she complained.

"O-of course- haha- of course that's who you would choose- haha!" His controller had fallen from the couch in his laughter, and when he finally regained control of his senses, his resulting beaming smile at Marinette caused her to blush. "Those are totally the characters _Ladybug_ would choose," he teased.

Her head flipped to the screen for a moment, but quickly rounded back on him. "But- but I always choose Toadette and Paratroopa!"

Her indignation was the catalyst for another round of hysterical laughter from Adrien. Marinette simply pouted at him, and proceeded to lob popcorn at his face in revenge.

* * *

It had been three weeks. Three weeks since Marinette and Adrien had found out that the other was their superhero partner. They had gone through an awkward week of processing, reconciling their knowledge of two people into one, and clarifying their feelings for each other. Happily, they had started dating, but with the rule that they both had to be in masks or out of masks to give physical affection; they really didn't need some huge public scandal about how a superhero was dating a civilian, especially since it was a threat to their identities. With that heavy conversation out of the way, both of them felt that their new knowledge only enhanced their understanding of their partner, furthering their relationship both on and off the battlefield.

Earlier that day Marinette and Adrien had been at school, the bell just sounding for lunch. Marinette and Alya were sitting in the cafeteria, having brought their lunches to school with them that day. Adrien and Nino came up to their table, where Nino sat next to Alya and Adrien slid in next to Mari.

"Princess," he greeted her, kissing her on the cheek. Marinette giggled in response, her attention completely diverted from her conversation with Alya to her new boyfriend sitting close to her side.

"Ugh," Alya mocked, trying to keep the smile off her face at seeing her OTP happening right in front of her. "You guys are too sweet for lunch. Save it for later!"

Adrien smirked back at Alya, "Well then, I guess I'll have some dessert for lunch, right Mari?" He winked at her, leaning closer and intertwining their fingers together underneath the table.

Marinette groaned, but couldn't help the blush that came to her face. She wouldn't deny that every kiss from Adrien so far had been the equivalent of one of her parents' chocolate chip cookies- perfectly sweet, and worth getting a dozen all at once. She remained confident, however, and used her unoccupied hand to push his face away. "Later," she scolded him, echoing Alya from earlier.

He chucked, raising their clasped hands to kiss her knuckles. They stared at each other, both of them grinning like the idiots that they were.

"Dude, it's still weird to see you guys like this," Nino commented, breaking their moment. He shook his head and got out his own lunch from his backpack. "One day, just… poof! You're dating!"

"Sorry," Adrien apologized to his friend, not actually sorry at all. "It's too complicated to explain."

"Yeah," Marinette agreed, nervously looking at Alya who had not quite given up on receiving all "the deets" yet. "Just be happy for us, please?"

At this point, Alya and Nino yielded to their friends' wishes, and their conversation moved on to another topic. Sometime later, Marinette turned to Adrien and asked, "Hey, aren't you free today?"

"Yeah… why?"

"My parents wanted to invite you over for dinner. Want to come over after school to play some video games and then have dinner?"

Adrien, while still a bit afraid of meeting with her parents one-on-one, couldn't have been happier at receiving the invite. "Of course, Mari! I'd love to."

And for the fifth time that lunch period, Nino and Alya lost their best friends to their own world.

* * *

Marinette and Adrien walked hand-in-hand into the bakery, and said hi to her parents. "We'll be upstairs in my room," Marinette informed them. "We're going to play some video games and maybe do a bit of homework before dinner tonight, if that's alright."

"Go on up and have some fun, sweetie," Sabine told her, going back to icing the cake she was working on. She paused, a memory sparking. "Oh! There's some cookies and croissants in the kitchen if you want some!"

"Okay, Maman!" The teenagers hurried up the stairs to the apartment, grabbing some popcorn and the baked goods along the way to her room. When they got there, Tikki and Plagg came out of hiding and went to cuddle on Mari's bed. The teens got comfortable in front of the computer, starting up some Ultimate Mecha Strike III.

An hour later, she had sufficiently beaten him 20-6, and Adrien had given up.

"Mari, I admit defeat. Can we play something different?" he whined dramatically, slouching in the desk chair he was using.

She smirked at him from her own chair, and reached over to bop his nose. "Sure, minou. We have more games downstairs in the living room, if you want?" He nodded, and they got up to go downstairs.

Arriving, Marinette crouched down and opened up the cabinet under the T.V. Adrien kneeled down beside her to get a closer look, curious as to what games her family had in their possession.

"Wow, some of these are pretty old," he remarked.

"Yeah," Marinette sighed, but in fondness. "My dad used to play a bunch when I was really young, but when they decided to open the bakery he stopped buying them. So, we have a lot of games from the early 2000's but not many after that. Well, until recently, that is. I kind of grew up on the ones you see right here."

Adrien spotted an interesting title. "Wow, the first Mecha Strike game! Awesome!"

She giggled. "But I thought you didn't want to play UMS anymore, Kitty?"

"I don't," he answered, cringing. "My Lady, if you are that _paws_ itively awesome at UMS III, I don't even want to know how good you are at the original."

Marinette flushed at the complement. "Okay, so what would you like to play?"

"Got any non-fighting games?"

After narrowing the options down a bit, they were left with The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Mario Strikers, Kirby Air-Ride and Mario Kart: Double Dash. Wind Waker was out, since it was a single-player game, and Adrien wasn't really interested in playing Mario soccer **(A/N: Er, football for everyone outside America?)**. However, he was interested in Mario Kart.

"I've played some of the other Mario Karts, but never this one. Let's play it!"

And alas, now they were here: Adrien laughing at her character choice and Marinette flinging popcorn at him.

"Toadette and Paratroopa are totally characters Ladybug would pick!" he defended himself, dodging the flying snacks. Marinette abruptly slumped into the couch, giving up on throwing the popcorn and opting to eat it instead.

"Come on," Adrien justified at her silence, "Toadette is one of the only characters that even has _spots_ , and she also has _pigtails_. Paratroopa is the only flying character, like how ladybugs have wings. Not to mention, both your characters are some shade of _red_." He paused, the humor evident in his voice, and his smile grew larger. "Maybe you always chose Toadette and Paratroopa in the past because you were destined to be Ladybug," he jested, chuckling. While Marinette could see his point, there was no way she wasn't going to defend herself.

"I chose Toadette because pink is my favorite color and Paratroopa because he has the special three red shell item!" she finally exploded, crossing her arms stubbornly. "They're both small characters and look great as a team," she added, trying to sound a bit more dignified.

"Toadette isn't the only pink character, Princess," he taunted, Chat Noir smirk present on his face.

"But the only other pink characters are Princess Peach and Birdo," she protested. At Adrien's raised eyebrow, she thought for a moment and explained further. "I never really liked Princess Peach because she always seemed too girly and helpless. And she reminds me of Chloe." They both shuddered at that, Adrien slightly agreeing with her. "Birdo is just a weird character in general, so forgive me if I chose Toadette, the small, adorable badass that I might relate to a little bit on a personal level."

She stuck her tongue out at him, pink still coloring her cheeks.

He chuckled, his eyes sparking with a thought. "Does that mean you are a small, adorable badass, My Lady?" His smirk grew bigger when her mouth dropped open, and she started to deny it, flustered.

He leaned closer to her, admiring her rosy complexion. "Well I certainly think you are, Bugaboo."

Her face became even redder, her mouth still gaping a bit. She held still as he advanced even closer, only for him to rapidly kiss her nose and pull away.

He leaned down to pick up his controller from the floor, looking up to find her glaring at him. He laughed at how cute she looked- oh, how he _loved_ getting her flustered- and smiled fondly at her. "Aren't you going to help me choose my characters?"

They had a staring contest for five seconds, her glaring and him smirking.

"I am so getting you back for that," she promised, promptly ignoring his request by shoving a cookie into her mouth.

* * *

"Why is this so hard?" Adrien lamented, five minutes later.

"It's not hard! Just choose!"

"But, My Lady, I want to choose characters that represent me as much as your characters represent you!"

Mari sighed and face-palmed. "Dumb cat," she muttered, but with an edge of fondness.

Adrien was quick to turn the kitten eyes on her and move closer. "Please, Mari… Princess… Buginette…" he pleaded, rubbing his cheek on her shoulder. "Help me find the _purr-_ fect _cat_ -racters?"

Marinette rolled her eyes at his dramatic flair, but blushed, still not used to seeing him like this when he was Adrien instead of Chat. She quickly recovered though, and smiled slyly at him. "I don't know. I feel like this is payback from earlier."

"But if you don't help me choose, we won't get to play!" Adrien exaggerated the pout on his face and waved a free hand at the screen in emphasis.

"Fine," she relented, fighting the urge to laugh. Her eyes turned back to the character screen.

"Tsk, there's no cat characters," an annoyed voice griped, causing them to jump apart.

Plagg and Tikki were hovering behind them, curious as to what they were playing.

"Jeez, Plagg, how long have you been there?" Adrien asked, scowling.

Tikki took it upon herself to reply. "Long enough to know that Marinette's characters represent Ladybug and you want your characters to represent Chat Noir, Adrien." She floated down to rest on top of Marinette's head. "I really like your characters, Marinette!"

"Aww, thanks Tikki!"

"How are you supposed to pick characters related to _me_ if there's no cats or cheese in this game?" Plagg accused, landing on the armrest closest to Adrien.

Adrien sighed. "I'm trying to pick characters that represent me, Plagg, not you."

"Hey," Marinette broke in, "what about Luigi?"

"Why Luigi?"

"Well, him and Mario are partners, right? Mario is red and-"

"Oh, I get it! Mario represents Ladybug, and Luigi is Chat Noir. The colors totally fit, plus there's the misconception that Luigi is Mario's sidekick, like how a lot of people think that I'm your sidekick…" He trailed off in thought.

"And, if you think about the Luigi's Mansion games, Luigi can be kind of a scaredy-cat," Marinette teased him, even though on the inside she still felt guilty about how her partner didn't get the credit he deserved.

Adrien and Plagg both scoffed at her joke, but Marinette was on a roll.

"Oh, and you should totally choose Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong because you're always monkeying around! You know, with your puns-"

Adrien whined loudly at choosing a monkey for his character- he was a _cat_ , thank you very much- and she giggled at his expression. "Come on, I'm just _kitten._ "

Adrien suddenly pounced on her, and nuzzled her neck. "I love it when you make puns." The adoration in his voice stirred the butterflies in her stomach.

"A-Ahh," she stuttered. "Well, don't get used to it, Kitty."

Adrien was about to reply when Plagg asked, "Who is this?" He had floated to the T.V. and was pointing at a man in a purple hat.

"That's Waluigi," Marinette replied. "I don't know much about him, other than he's partners with Wario, the yellow guy above him, and they're sort of trouble-makers?"

"Wario is super greedy, and he was made to be some antagonist to Mario," Adrien supplied further. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Plagg said vaguely, going back to munching on some cheese he had taken from the kitchen. Adrien looked quizzically at him, but decided to question Plagg later.

There was silence as everyone stared back at the screen, contemplating Adrien's second character choice.

"You know what," Adrien voiced after a minute of deliberation, "I think I'm going to go with Luigi and Toad." He shifted his blue Player 2 box on the screen towards his characters.

"Why Toad?" Marinette asked.

"Firstly, Toad's the only other character that has spots. I gotta support my partner!" He grinned at her. "Secondly, because Toad always helps out the princess. And you know how I'm always willing to serve _my_ _Purrincess_." He winked, which flustered Marinette even more than his words had.

She quickly turned back to the T.V. "F-Finally, let's play already!"

* * *

A little over an hour later, her father came up to check on them. He lingered behind Marinette, his large hands resting on the back of couch.

"Playing Mario Kart, I see. It's been awhile."

"Hi, papa!" Marinette greeted, concentrating on her epic drift around a U-turn.

Adrien nervously peeked up at Tom before returning his attention to the race. "Hi, sir," he acknowledged, politely.

Tom clapped his hand on Adrien's shoulder, heavy with affection. "Adrien, call me Tom! There's no need to be so formal."

"Okay, uh- Tom." Adrien's cheeks glowed a bit in embarrassment, and in the game he was passed by another kart.

"Yes!" Marinette cheered as she took first place in the Baby Park stage. As Adrien came in third after her, she turned around to look at her father. "Wanna play with us, Papa?"

Tom gave her a huge smile, his eyes twinkling. "Oh, I'd love to, but I really shouldn't leave your mother to close the bakery all on her own. I just came to check up on you kids."

"Would you like any help?" Adrien offered, a bit sheepishly. Marinette was about to tell him that they didn't need to, but her father beat her to it.

"Oh no, that's not necessary," Tom assured, moving to go back downstairs.

Adrien was quick to say his piece. "I guess I was thinking that if we help out in the bakery, you might have some time to play with us before dinner."

Marinette and Tom glanced at Adrien in surprise, subsequently exchanging a look. "Actually, that's not a bad idea," Marinette admitted, hopeful eyes on her father.

"Okay," Tom relented, "You two can do the dishes."

Adrien smiled gratefully at Marinette, and they both got up from the couch to turn off their game. Tom disappeared downstairs, and Marinette took the chance to give Adrien a hug.

"You know," she said softly, "You don't have to be so nervous around him." As she pulled away, she gave him an understanding smile.

He rubbed the back of his neck, cringing slightly. "I know, but he's… your _dad_."

She shook her head in amusement, and gently kissed his cheek. "My dad is a big softie, so please just be yourself around him. You don't have to act a certain way for my benefit or yours." There was a bit of an awkward silence as they both stood there, cheeks glowing. Marinette took his hand and started to lead him to the stairs. "Now let's go before my parents think we are up to something."

Unfortunately, the crimson in their faces hadn't completely receded by the time they met up with her parents in the bakery. Sabine smiled knowingly at her daughter, storing away the leftover pastries, while Tom feigned obliviousness, sweeping the floor.

Marinette led Adrien towards the sink piled high with mixing bowls, spoons, and measuring cups. She handed him a towel to do the drying, while she did the washing. As they got into a rhythm, Tom addressed Adrien.

"So Adrien, did you know that Marinette likes to play as Toadette because Toadette sounds similar to Marinette?" Adrien, his eyebrows raised, turned to gaze at Tom, who winked conspiratorially back.

"Papa!" Marinette exclaimed, embarrassed.

Adrien spun towards her with the biggest smirk on his face. This was just more fuel to add to the fire, another reason Toadette was a perfect character for Marinette!

Catching his expression, she narrowed her eyes at him, and flicked him with water. "Shut up," she muttered, before he had even said anything.

Laughter chorused around the kitchen. Tom proceeded to share some of his best baking puns, and Adrien's uneasiness decreased as he eagerly responded back with some of his own.

"Mari-bear, this boy is perfect for you! His puns are amazing!" Tom praised as he finished up his sweeping.

"Papa!" Her blush just kept getting worse the more time her father had to embarrass her. She looked over at Adrien to see him also sporting a crimson color.

"Uh, thanks Tom," Adrien uttered, somewhat timidly.

"You're welcome!" her father hollered back, putting his broom away in the closet. When he came back out with the mop, he eyed Adrien mischievously. "Would you like to hear my most epic pun?"

Marinette gasped in horror. "No, Papa! Adrien, don't listen to him!" she pleaded.

Curiosity overtook Adrien, eyebrow raised in amusement at Marinette as he went directly against her pleas. "Uh, sure?" he confirmed to Tom, waiting in anticipation.

"Marinette's name means _'the one who rises'_ and Dupain translates as _'from bread,_ '" Tom divulged, snickering as Marinette face palmed in exasperation.

A moment passed, and Adrien snorted, trying to keep in his laughter for Marinette's sake. He couldn't keep his giggles in for long, though.

"Hahaha! That's the greatest thing ever! ' _The one who rises from bread!_ '" He couldn't help but high-five Tom in exuberance.

"I feel so betrayed," Marinette sulked, her scarlet face hidden by her hand as she leaned over the sink.

"C'mon, Mari," Adrien reassured her, removing her hand away from her face and pulling her towards him. "I love it; it makes your name unique!"

"He named me for a pun! And I have to live with it for the rest of my life," she complained, leaning her head on his shoulder. He patted her back comfortingly.

"Not if you get married," Tom sang, choosing at that moment to twirl Sabine around like they were dancing. "Tom," Sabine admonished, chuckling.

Mortified at her father's implications, Marinette hastily pushed Adrien away in favor of scrubbing one of the mixing utensils. Adrien grinned at her reaction, but was also bewildered by Tom's teasing.

Soon, the dishes were finished, and the teens went into the lobby area to wipe down the customer tables. The bakery was clean in record time with the four of them working together.

"Off you go," Sabine told the other three, standing at the register. She waved them upstairs. "I'll finish with tallying up our profits, and you go enjoy yourselves."

Tom kissed his wife on the cheek. "You're the best, sweetheart!"

Upstairs, they settled on the couch, Marinette sitting in the middle of the other two after starting up the game again. At the character selection, Tom chose Donkey Kong and Mario, which Adrien thought fit the man well.

Marinette and her father playfully bickered as they started their first race, and Adrien couldn't help but feel a bit left out and envious. His apprehension about fitting in with Marinette's family flared up, and Adrien was so lost in thought that he was startled when a red shell hit him mid-race. Tom's kart overtook his, putting Adrien in third place.

"Ah-ha! Got you, Adrien!" Tom beamed widely at him, and Adrien felt something in his heart shift, like a puzzle piece fitting into the right place. A long-desired warmth bubbled up inside him.

Narrowing his eyes and grinning ecstatically, he took Tom's challenge in stride. "Come back here!" he demanded. An item box gave him a red shell, which he threw right back at Tom.

"No!" Tom bellowed as the shell hit his kart. "Let's not fight! We should team up against Marinette; she's in first!"

"Okay," Adrien breathed, passing through another item box. He grinned evilly at what was inside and quickly used the item. "There's a lovely blue shell for you, Mari!"

She squealed as she was hit, and both males laughed heartily as they overtook her.

"Adrien! How dare you betray me! We're supposed to be partners!"

"All's fair in love and war," Adrien giddily responded, no longer caring that her father was in the room. He leaned over to kiss her cheek as he passed the finish line, second behind Tom.

Her dad chuckled at Adrien's comeback, and Marinette could only blush and glare with mirth at both of them. She was grateful, though, that Adrien was finally being himself around her dad.

The game tallied up their points, then returned to the stage selector. Marinette quickly determined which stage she wanted to play next.

"If all is fair in love and war, let's see you beat me at Rainbow Road," she challenged Adrien.

"You're on!"

* * *

 _One year later…_

"Dude, if Alya is going to have Daisy, there's no way you can have Luigi! Daisy is Luigi's Princess, and Alya is _my_ girlfriend!"

"Hey, Luigi has been my character way longer than you've even had your miraculous, Nino. Mari and I agreed Luigi was one of the best characters to represent Chat Noir."

"Wait," Alya cut in. "So Marinette is Toadette and the red shell dude because they are the closest match to Ladybug?"

Marinette's protesting outcry could be heard from the kitchen, and everyone snickered. "It wasn't intentionally like that!" she objected, a moment later coming into the living room with some snacks. "Adrien pointed out the similarities the first time we played, but in my defense I've always chosen Toadette and Paratroopa, even before I was Ladybug. He's the one that made it a thing to base them off our hero identities."

She scowled at Adrien, but he smirked back, proud and fond of that day.

"Okay," Alya chimed after a beat of silence. "Well, if you guys are going to play with characters that represent your superhero alter-egos, then I'm going to do the same. You with me, babe?" she asked Nino.

Nino nodded, not wanting to be left out. "Well, one of my characters is a no-brainer," he decided, moving his Player 3 box and selecting Koopa Troopa, the green turtle character. Everyone else agreed with a simultaneous nod.

"Maybe your second character should be Bowser or Bowser Jr. since they're also turtle-like characters?" Marinette suggested.

Nino shook his head immediately. "No way, man! They're the evil dudes; that's not heroic at all!"

"Well, the only other character in the game that's green and not Luigi is Yoshi," Adrien observed, feeling a bit lame at his brainstorming ability.

Alya suddenly had a spark come to her eyes. "If you think about it, Yoshi is a dinosaur, which are like prehistoric turtles, right? That's close enough." She turned to look expectantly at Nino, who considered her words before nodding.

"Oh! And since dinosaurs are old, it sort of relates to how Nino is supposed to be the "wise turtle" of the group," she continued, putting finger quotations up in the air.

They all laughed, but Nino acquiesced, moving his green icon onto Yoshi and choosing the matching Yoshi kart. His Player 3 color and characters all matched.

"Now who should I choose?" Alya questioned.

"Well, I think your initial choice of Daisy was good," Marinette reasoned, trying to compare each of the characters to Rena Rogue's outfit. "She is the only orange-ish character, and your hair color is pretty similar to hers."

No one voiced a concern over Marinette's logic, so Alya left Daisy on the screen as her first chosen character. She turned eagerly back to her best friend, and asked "Who else?"

They all pondered for a minute, none coming up with an acceptable second character choice.

"Well, which one is a trickster?" Trixx inquired, making everyone jolt in surprise. Apparently the kwamis had stopped socializing upstairs in Marinette's room and had joined their holders in the living room. Mari's parents were still downstairs in the bakery, so the kwamis felt safe out in the open.

"I got it!" Marinette cried out, excited. "You should choose King Boo; he's a ghost that likes to trick people, and he's sort of an illusionist!"

"Perfect!" Alya and Trixx yelled together, celebrating with a "high-five" where Trixx head-butted Alya's opened hand.

"Master," Wayzz addressed Nino privately, while landing on his shoulder. "I do appreciate the characters you have chosen."

"Thanks lil' bud," Nino said, fondly, rubbing Wayzz's head with a finger.

"Whoever loses next round has to give up their controller to me and Plagg!" Tikki exclaimed, floating in from the kitchen with a cookie. Plagg tailed behind her with his smelly Camembert.

Nino and Alya looked flabbergasted for a second, while Marinette and Adrien snickered. "How does that even work?" Nino asked.

"Tikki and Plagg play as Baby Mario and Baby Luigi on the same controller," Adrien informed them. "One of them presses A to go while also controlling the item release, and the other drives with the control stick. They've gotten pretty good at it, even the drifting." He chuckled.

"That's what happens when you've known each other for thousands of years," Plagg bragged. "Perfect coordination!" He cackled loudly, and Tikki giggled.

Marinette and Adrien exchanged a knowing look. They remembered quite well the weekend that Tikki and Plagg had snuck into the living room alone to practice.

"Should we be afraid?" Alya joked. There was a nervous twinge to her voice that could've been fear; the kwamis were powerful gods after all.

"Very," said Adrien, Marinette, and Trixx all at once, mock serious. Everyone burst out laughing, and the final clicks through the menu led the teens to the stage selector.

Tikki flew down to Marinette's controller very suddenly, pressing A on a random stage. "Let the race begin!" she trilled happily.

* * *

Three hours later- when they had all sufficiently out-competed each other in _Voleur de Soliel_ , _Bataille de Ballons_ , _Explosion Bob-omb_ , and many, many Rainbow Road races- they decided to call it quits. After all, they needed to start patrol with Queen Bee, and they could only do that if everyone left the bakery and "went home" in order to not cause suspicion.

Adrien got up from the couch and stretched, reminding Marinette of his cat-like nature. "Too bad Chloe couldn't come tonight," he mentioned. "I'm sure she would've had a ton of fun, even if this isn't her normal thing."

"I wonder what characters Queenie would choose," Alya mused, her head leaning on Nino's shoulder.

Adrien caught Marinette's eye. "No," she mouthed to him, remembering what she had said the first time they had played Mario Kart. She vowed to bop him with her yoyo later when he smirked and failed to heed her warning.

"Mari thinks Chloe would be a perfect Princess Peach," he revealed to Alya and Nino. Both snorted in amusement, neither denying it.

"Maybe she could choose Petey Piranha- you know, the plant guy- since bees pollinate flowers?" Nino brainstormed.

"Maybe," Marinette surmised, thoughtful. "We'll have to leave it up to Chloe and Pollen for whenever we do this again." She then turned to glower at Ayla, and nudged her arm with a foot. "And next time there will be no blocking of people's vision with wayward feet!" Marinette then proceeded to wag her foot near Alya in exasperation.

Everyone cracked up, including the now-hidden kwamis (for Mari's parents had come upstairs an hour ago), and a keen sense of contentment and _home_ fell over the group. They all sat for a minute, enjoying each other's presence.

Alya suddenly hauled herself up from the couch, and offered a hand to Nino. "I think we'll be going now. See you later!" She then dragged a wide-eyed, waving Nino out of the living room.

Marinette and Adrien waved back, a bit puzzled at Alya's sudden rush out of the apartment. They let it go though, figuring she wanted some alone time with Nino.

"I probably should be going too," he sighed, taking her hand to also lift her from the couch. When she was standing he kissed her knuckles, then moved in to give her a long hug. When Marinette tried to push away, he kept her locked in the embrace.

"Adriiieeennn," she whined, and he snuggled his face farther into her neck. She giggled. "We'll see each other at patrol. What's the big deal?"

"I just… _Je t'aime_ , Marinette. So much." Even though his voice was just a whisper into her ear, fierce adoration overtook his tone.

She squeezed him tighter, not quite understanding where this was coming from, but willing to indulge him. "I love you too, Chaton."

He moved just enough to look her in the eyes without letting her go. "Tonight was probably in my top ten best days ever," he told her. "I don't really want it to end."

Impulsively, she kissed him. "It doesn't have to," she murmured when she pulled away.

"Good," he hummed back, kissing her with even more passion. The feeling of _home_ intensified in his chest, and he vowed to never let her go.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Fun fact, Mario Kart: Double Dash is the first Mario Kart to be translated into French. It's also the first appearance of Toadette in the whole Mario franchise.**

 **Also, this was unintentional, but I managed to mention every single character you can play as in Mario Kart: Double Dash in this story. Achievement unlocked? Lol.**

 **The inspiration for this story came from the fact that I recently started playing some old GameCube games again, including Mario Kart: Double Dash. I always play with Toadette and Paratroopa, and with my newfound Miraculous Ladybug obsession (which started July 2017), I couldn't help but think that those were the perfect characters for Marinette to play, if she had the game. And thus, this fic was born! Even though it took over a month to write it after I had the idea… Although, I had to do a lot of thinking about which characters fit with each person and their superhero identities. I hope it was worth reading!**

 **Credit goes to lillykleaf for editing and helping this fic actually get written!**

 **Reviews are appreciated! Thanks!**

 **Starlin's Ghost**


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